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Likelihood of getting some chrome

Greetings,

I am thinking of breeding my black Clydesdale mare who has all the classic chrome markings of a Clyde (Big blaze, 4 big white legs) to a chestnut Saddlebred devoid of all markings except for a small star.  The studs sire is devoid of any chrome, his dam had an average amount (stripe, 2 white socks).

I understand the coat color logistical possibilities, but I can not find a good source that discusses the genetics of chrome.  Can anyone lend me some insight?

For everyone scratching their head and wondering why the heck I'm doing this particular combo, I'm hoping to produce a really quality Georgian Grande Horse: http://www.georgiangrande.com/.  There has been a lot of thought put into this thus far.

The mare and stallion are wonderful quality for the respective breeds.  I am considering this stud despite his lack of chrome because he is perfect otherwise... simply stunning and far exceeding my expectations for this particular endeavor.  I originally searched for studs by color, but they were falling short.  Still; while quality of animal is paramount, I am hopeful to retain the Clydesdale's chrome.  

Thoughts?

Best,
ASBClyde

 

 

Daylene Alford Thu, 11/21/2013 - 09:57

The genes that cause the white spotting pattern found in Clydesdales has not yet been located.   However, in many if not most cases where Clydes are bred to breeds with little or no white crosses have less white than their Clyde parent. This leads me to believe that Clydesdales are homozygous for a white spotting gene that acts as an incomplete dominant.  

Now how is this likely to affect your proposed foal?  Well, the foal is likely to have less white then the Clyde parent. How much less is impossible to say.  If the stallion has a white suppressor that is also passed to the foal the foal could end up with very little white.  Something like a large star and a white sock.  If not the foal is likely to have a blaze and at least three white feet.  How high the leg white might be?  That is anyone's guess.

You could increase your chances of a foal with "chrome" by breeding to a stallion who has chrome.  

Hope that helps some,

Daylene 

ASBClyde Thu, 11/21/2013 - 12:55

Thanks for the response, Daylene.  I've been researching this all day and did find that very little is known about the genes that control the spotting pattern on Clydes and also just white markings in general.  I found some confusing evidence that a lot of white markings are determined in utero by environmental factors.  But Clydes do seem to have some sort of genetic component to their consistent markings so... confusing.

The stud has one generation of foals already on the ground and while none of them are especially colorful, neither were the mares bred to and the foals seem to be matching the mares they came from more than the stud.  All the foals have something white, some a couple things white like a star and one leg, just like mom.

The more colorful studs I am finding just don't have the structure I want from this boy.  I have until Spring to keep looking.

Daylene Alford Thu, 11/21/2013 - 13:26

The current understanding of white patterns is that conditions in utero can affect the placement or size (in a moderate way) of white patterns but only if the horse would have had white markings to begin with.  Uterine conditions will not put white on a horse that isn't genetically supposed to have white or make a horse with a minor pattern have a wild one.  Something odd may happen every great once in a while such as a semantic mutation but this is by far the exception rather than the rule.   

We do know that red based horses (chestnut, palomino etc) do express more white than similarly patterned black biased horses (bay, black, buckskin etc) and it is not well understood why this happens.  The same of geldings and stallions vs mares (thought to be hormonal).